Sealed Tattoos
by Anime-GaGa
Summary: Rewritten: A girl with a past life. She doesn't know anything about it and tries to find it out while she's traveling with a group. Will she find out, what is hidden behind her normal life? Or better, her normal lives?
1. The Time Has Come

_Chapter 1 The time has come...  
_

_I was just playing a piece on my violin, when I heard a loud crash. I closed my eyes. He came. I rushed out of my room, holding up the many layers of my dress, and quickly passed the endless hallways until I reached the exit of the palace._

_The scene outside made my heart racing. I saw the twins, both, black-haired. One with violet, piercing eyes, the other a deep grass-green, soft and bright. One standing, the other crashed at the plum tree. And the hunter, Seishiro. _

_"Subaru!" I called out as I ran towards the tree. I kneeled down beside him and shoved his upper body in my lap. "Subaru" I said again, quieter this time as I placed a hand on his cheek. He stirred and his deep eyes looked at my deep blue ones. _

_"Aya..." he smiled weakly and I held him closer to me, before glancing at the hunter and the other vampire, Kamui. The later lunged for Seishiro with his sharp nails, but he easily dodged it and disappeared, just to appear five meters away. _

_"Kamui please, you have to go now" I pleaded at his back, which was facing me. "You can't fight him. Go to the Dimensional Witch with Subaru!"  
_

_"She's right, you can't beat me. But I'm afraid I can't let the last part happen" I gritted my teeth. This hunter obviously enjoyed this. Just then I felt a hand on my shoulder. Looking behind me I saw three beautiful women with an older person, whose hair greyed more and more. My sisters with the high priest. _

_"Aya, we will keep him back while the high priest prepares everything" the tallest of the three said to me, whilst she glared at the hunter, who just looked back, not faced by it at all. _

_"Sorry, but I can't let this happen, either" Seishiro replied for me before he ran towards us with unbelievable speed. The three girls blocked my view as they stand protectively between him and me. They muttered words together, words familiar to me, while raising their hands before them. The air seemed to thicken a half ball around us, not letting anyone from the outside inside. Kamui quickly jumped in, before it closed completely. But Seishiro couldn't.  
_

_"Please, High Priest, send them to the Witch!" I requested. It was more a command than a plea. _

_"Aya" Subaru said still weakly, while Kamui glared at their chaser, seemingly hating that he wasn't allowed to beat him. "I don't want to leave you" he continued. My face softened and I stared at him sadly. _

_"I don't want you to leave me, too" I replied, my voice cracking slightly as a lump created itself in my throat. "But you have to. Please, don't make it harder than it already is." A tear escaped my eyes. I really didn't want him to leave. _

_But it couldn't be helped._

_ I caressed his cheek, before I leaned down to give him a passionate kiss. He closed his eyes, but I pulled away quickly, unstoppable tears coming out of my eyes. _

_"I love you" I said quietly before I shoved him in Kamui's arms, who kneeled in front of me. Subaru let go off me rather unwillingly. I briefly hugged Kamui, before a__ circle appeared underneath us._

_Locking my eyes with the piercing violet ones I whispered. "Be careful, you two, when you cross dimensions. Some worlds are with magic, some are not. Some are full of wars, some are already destroyed. The Dimensional Witch will tell you the details about this. I hope we will meet us again" _

_Kamui nodded and gave me one of his rare, small smile "Thank you. For everything" I smiled softly back and glanced sorrowful at Subaru. His eyes met mine, full of sadness, but he managed to pull his mouth corners up a little.  
_

_"Until we meet again, my beloved princess" he said, knowing full well I won't remember him the next time. I stared at the spot he was just a second ago._

_"Until we meet again, Subaru..."_

* * *

I woke up before sunrise, like always. The sky was still dark as I stared up from the window, which was right beside my bed. Only streaks of orange and red painted the thick clouds. They promised rain.

_What a strange dream_ I thought, while getting up from the mattress. It was really weird. They say, you could only dream of things you had seen before or imagined. But I did neither of those.

_So who were these people? Do I know them? I've never seen them before, have I? But somehow they were so familiar..._ It seemed like a memory, but I couldn't remember when this things happened and where I had seen the people, however hard I tried. It was just like the answers were under the surface, but still unreachable.

I vanished those thoughts. It was just a dream. A weird one. But then again, I was quite weird, too, wasn't I?

I quickly took a bath, before going down to the kitchen to prepare breakfast for Dad and me, who was certainly too drunk to make it by himself, even in the morning. After Mom's death he was too depressed to do anything else than drinking anyway. I didn't blame him because of this, I was just worried how Jun, my little brother, would take it, if he ever noticed him in a drunken situation.

Of course I tried my best to bring Jun somewhere else when Dad was drunk, which happened a lot, he was just seven years old, so I couldn't let him notice this.

It was sad to have a Dad like him, who would punch you every time, giving you the fault of Mom's death. I didn't want Jun to have a childhood like this, so I was glad to be eighteen now. So I could work and take care for the food. Though the job wasn't quite the best one for me. Whatever.

I ate my breakfast and prepared myself for work.

But before I made sure, Jun was awoke and went to school and then I finally made my way to the restaurant, where I worked as a servant. I took a short cut, since I was late yet again and went into a small forest.

At the other end it would just be a street away to the restaurant. I was surrounded by big trunks of trees, leaves crunching loudly under my every step when I saw a light not far away.

That was odd. The sun wasn't even up.

Curiosity took the better of me and I made my way towards the shine. Just as I was about to reach it, only one tree blocking me from view, I suddenly stumbled over a root, falling on my knees. _Oops!_

I crouched up to my feet, examining my knees for any bleeding scratches since I didn't want my work clothes to be stained with the red substance, that wouldn't get away if it wasn't washed in an instant. At least until the ground in front of me got enlightened from something.

Furrowing my eyebrows in confusion I looked up when I realized the shine was the form of two feet before me, inches away from the ground.

_Huh? I thought, I was the only one who can use at least a little bit magic. _Not that I was good at it, not at all. I couldn't even control it as well use it then. If I asked someone about this misery here, they would think I was crazy. At least the ones did, whom I had asked.

I looked up and froze. My eyes widened and I suddenly became very well aware of my heart beat racing.

_Mom?_

There, before me, _in front of me,_ looking down at me _with blue eyes so much like mine_, white light shimmering from her body, let her look like a ghost was..._was my mother!_

"Mommy?" I finally found my voice. Though I more choke than spoke out. The remembrance of her, how I had found her dead back then, made tears well up to my eyes. And even though my position got uncomfortable, even though the light coming from her burned my eyes...I was frozen.

"_My little princess_" her silk voice echoed through me as I watched her mouth move. "_you grew up to a beautiful woman, do you know that?_"

"Mom!" I cried out louder now, not able to keep the tears from flowing anymore. Not that I really tried. _My little princess_ Hearing, how she called me, reminding me of all of us together, happy together, rushed up again.

I reached for her in attempt to touch her, but my hand got nothing. She was a ghost, she wouldn't come back.

She still continued "_You need to know some things_" she knelt down in front of me on eye level. "_I couldn't tell you before. But...now that time has come_"

"What time?" I asked, confused, dreading the moment I would have to blink, fearing it was just an illusion.

"_You know, you have magic inside yourself?_" I nodded.

"_And you can't control it?"_ Another nod.

"_Do you know why?_" I was about to nod again, but shook my head just in time.

"_That's because your magic...it is sealed_" she seemed to have difficulty in explaining me. "_Did you saw the mark on your back?_" Of course I did. It was hardly assessable. At least I believed we were talking about the same one. The one, which got from my neck down, only to separate in some weird symbols towards my shoulder blades, leaving the middle free of anything.

"Yeah, I guess" I replied vaguely.

"_These marks were larger before_" I noticed the past tense she used. "_They symbolized how powerful your magic was, but because it is sealed now, the marks also...shrunk_" I stared at her, dumbfounded. How did she know this all? Could she use magic, too? Well, obviously. How else could she stay here, only inches away. She was dead after all. Dead.

"So, I have more magic" I said slowly.

"_Yes you have_"

"And now I don't have it anymore"

"_No...not exactly_" she hesitated on giving anything else, so I over-looked it.

"Because it was sealed?"

"_Yes_"

"But when did this happen? Who sealed it? You? And why? How come I've never known this?" I blurted out everything at once, not bearing the one question-form we made up.

"_My little princess_" I swallowed at the name. "_You will get your answers when you get your memories back, my dear..._" Memories? What memories? I opened my mouth, but my mother forestalled me.

"_And until you didn't get all your memories back, please...don't try to break the seal_" Why should I do this? No way, I would beside the fact I didn't know how to do it anyway.

"What memories do you mean?"_ Does the light around her shone brighter than before or is it just my imagination?_

"_I don't have the time to tell you, my dear_" she had a sad undertone in her voice. "_You have to go now. But please, promise me to not break the seal until you get your memories back, please?_"

"Al-Alright" I stammered, still dumbfounded. Then it hit me. "Wha- wait! I can't go!" I protested vociferous, though the lump was stuck in my throat I didn't seem to protesting.

"What about Jun? And Dad?" I asked. Surely she hadn't forgotten them if she remembered me. "I have to look out for them. I can't go just like that!" I stopped for a moment. "Where am I going anyway?"

"_To your destiny_" she only replied my last question. "_I will send you to the Dimensional Witch_" To whom? She came closer to me, opening her arms wide as if she wanted to embrace me. And I wished her with all my mind to do so.

"_You have to go on a journey...help some people. And during that you will get your memories..._" she paused. "_...from your past life_" What?

"What?" I voiced my useless thought.

The light coming out from her surrounded me, blinding my eyes so I could see nothing but whiteness. I had to shield them with my hand.

"_I wish you good luck on this journey! And don't worry about Jun and your Dad. They will be fine...!_" _I wonder why she sounds so sad._ I tried to glimpse at her, but there was only light, so bright it hurt my eyes.

Then everything turned black. Black spots appeared in front of my eyes. And the last thing I noticed was my Moms voice

_I'm sorry, I can't help you more, my little princess... _


	2. Travel With A Group

_Chapter 2 Travel with a group...  
_

In another dimension, in another country, there was a rainy day. A woman with straight black hair and blood-red eyes stood in a black dress in front of her shop, waiting for the arrivals she knew, which would come. Behind her stood two little girls and a teenage boy with a school uniform and glasses.

"They're coming" the woman said in her calm voice to no one in particular. After her words a thick substance in a from of a bubble came out from the sky and splattered as it reached the ground, revealing a boy, a teenage boy, who held tightly onto girl in his arms.

Opening his eyes he wildly glanced around, before his eyes rested on the tall woman in front of him. The girl however, seemed unconscious and pale with her light brown hair. _She_ didn't open her eyes.

As soon as he spotted the woman, whose stare was evident to him, he asked. "Are you the Space-Time witch?

"I have been called that", she answered, emotionless.

"Would you please..." the boy shouted, before he stopped and started his request again. He felt panicked at the coldness radiating from the princess in his arms. "I need you to save Sakura!" he pleaded, his eyes wide in alert and fear.

The witch knelt tentatively in front of him of him "This child's name is Sakura, isn't it?" The boy nodded silently, panting a bit. "Yes"

"And yours?"

"I'm Syaoran" he replied, confused as to why she could be so calm if someone was probably dying in front of her.

The witch lightly touched the forehead of the girl, whose pained face was rolled back in Syaoran's arms, and a light appeared under her hand.

"This child...has lost something very precious" she said, almost whispered, as if she was talking to herself.

"Yes" Syaoran confirmed quietly, matching her tone. The witch furrowed her eyebrows, a small crease appearing between them.

" And...that something has been scattered over many different worlds. If nothing is done...this child will die" the woman said.

The brown-haired boy gasped and tighten his grip around the girl, gritting his teeth.

"Those feathers?" he spoke in ponder.

"Yes" the witch replied, though it wasn't a question rather than a statement. "Those feathers are the form of her memories"

"Watanuki?" the witch suddenly stood up, looking to her left at the boy with the glasses. Just now Syaoran noticed, there were other people as well beside the three of them.

"Y-Yes?" The boy named Watanuki hastily came up, startled a bit.

"Go to our treasure room" the woman commanded, an air of authority around her. "There is something I need you to bring back"

Watanuki nodded quickly, running back inside the shop with the other two girls, muttering something to them in the way. Syaoran looked after them, although not really looking until the witch spoke again.

"You wish to save this child?"

"Yes!" Determination was evident in his voice.

"There _is_ a price" she continued nonetheless. "Are you still willing?"

"_I will pay any price I can_" That would make it clear.

The air beside and above the boy seemed to thicken and he gasped in surprise. _He_ didn't see how he appeared, so this was new.

"Here they come" the witch spoke with a smirk. Syaoran held the girl tighter in his arms. The witch watched motionless while he was casting glances to his right and left, back and forth, not sure where to look first. Two bubbles appeared at the same time at his sides after all.

As they splattered, you could see a tall ninja with short, dark hair and crimson eyes, a deep frown upon his face. He was dressed in all black, most probably his favorite color, with a sword draped over his shoulder.

Another also tall man appeared to Syaoran's right from the other bubble. Draped in a white coat with blue symbols on it, he seemed to be from somewhere where it was cold. The coat looked very heavy, covering him from head to toe, a large staff in one hand. He had pale blonde hair, glimpsing from under his hood, with clear blue eyes and a smile plastered on his face, after he collected himself.

"Are you the Dimensional Witch?" the blonde one asked cheerfully, while, at the same time, the ninja more gruffly,

"Who the hell are you?"

Startled they glanced at each other before back to the Dimensional Witch.

"Please give me your names first" The woman requested, pointing at the black-haired guy.

"Me? I'm Kurogane" the ninja said rather unwillingly. "Actually, where the hell is this place?"

"This is Japan."

"Eh? My country is called Japan, too" Kurogane spoke perplexed.

"But this is a completely different Japan" the witch casted him an amused side-glance as he gritted his teeth, a frustrated, deep frown plastered on his face. "I'm not getting any of this"

The Space-Time witch ignored him as she asked the blonde. "And you?" though her face was quietly frowning as well, slowly but steadily.

The blonde bowed politely, "I'm a wizard from the country Celes, Fai D. Flourite" he replied, smiling. And even if the Witch listened to the words, her mind kept asking, why _she_ didn't come.

_Where is she? You promised she would come..._ she thought, when a light appeared between her and the arrivals out of nowhere.

"WHAT THE HELL?" Kurogane yelled, while Syaoran held Sakura protectively closer to him. What was going on? he asked himself, fearing what would happen. The light got so bright, they had to shield their eyes with their hands,

When it at last stopped to shine, somebody in a light-colored cloak fells towards the ground in top speed. A girl if you scrutinized the outlines.

The blonde, Fai D. Flourite, lunged reflexive forward, catching her, just as she was some inches apart from meeting the stony way to the shop. He landed smoothly on the ground with the girl in his arms.

Looking down at her, he couldn't see anything though due to her hood blocking the view of whatever was under it.

The witch sighed quietly, staring at the form, laying unconscious in front of her. She bent gracefully down and pulled the hood back from the girl's face, revealing wavy, reddish hair, which went further down under her cloak, and a sickly pale face. Though she breathed calmly in and out as if she was in a deep slumber.

The witch watched the tiny movements of the girl, which contained only her breath, warmness filled in her eyes, but also dark in sorrow.

_Does this really have to be your most precious thing?_ she thought. The wizard snapped her out of her thoughts as he asked,

"Who is this girl?"

"Is she alright?" Syaoran added slightly worried about her. Of course, it reminded him of his princess.

"She will be fine" the woman simply replied. "You're going to find out later who she is. For now..." she caressed the young girl's forehead, a light, similar to the one from before, appearing under her hand. She moved it swiftly away, before straighten up, very well aware, everybody were watching her intently.

"Do you know, where you are?" she asked, a blank look in her eyes as she stared directly into the eyes of the other two newcomers.

The rain fell hardly down on them, but nobody really seemed to notice or simply didn't care.

"Yes..." the only wizard at the shop spoke cheerfully. He was still down on one knee, holding the girl. It didn't seem very well for him to leave her on the ground. "This is a place where any wish can be granted if a suitable price is paid"

"That's exactly it" the witch agreed with a small nod. "And so...the reason why you are all here...is, because each of you has a wish"

"My home world is..."

"...where I want to be" Kurogane commanded.

"...where I do not want to be" was Fai's wish on the other hand. They both stared at each other, the ninja angry, the wizard rather pondering, the smile wiped from his face for just a minute.

The witch put her fingers under her chin, thoughtfully speaking. "That is a tall order for both of you. No...for all _three_ of you...perhaps"

Fai D. Flourite casted his eyes down to not meet the eyes of the witch as he realized, he still got the girl in his arms. "And what about _her_ wish?"

For a moment Yuuko, the Space-Time witch, seemed to be taken back by his question. Seemed like she didn't expect him to speak so soon again. But she regained her composure as soon as it had left her.

"As I said you're going to find out later" she simply responded, ignoring skillfully every suspicious glance she got from either the ninja or the wizard.

"Even if you offered the most precious thing you own...none of you has enough to pay" Syaoran felt the panic rise up in him again as he desperately stared at the beautiful face of the girl, framed by the light brown hair she had down to her shoulders. He couldn't think of anything else that would save her life soon enough.

"...But..." Syaoran's head snapped up to the witch. "...if all three paid together, you may just be able to afford it" _All three? What about her?_ Fai looked down again.

"What kind of crap are you spouting?" Kurogane asked gruffly, not understanding a word.

"Oi, Mr. Black" Fai spoke over his shoulder with a grin. "Can you keep your insults down?"

"I'm not Mr. Black!" he shouted, not caring if any of the girls woke up. Might have been good anyway. But none of the two moved an inch. "My name is Kurogane!"

"All _four_ of your wishes are the same" the witch spoke as if the argument never happened. Syaoran looked up to the witch in wonder. Why was she including the other girl _now_?

She turned her attention to him. "You want to go to many worlds in order to restore the memory of this child"

"You want to return to your own world..." she glanced at the moody ninja.

"...while _you _want to go to many different worlds to avoid returning to your own"

"You have different reasons, but the method is the same" the Dimensional Witch explained emotionless. "Travel to different dimensions...that is what you need"

"Each of you individually cannot make that wish happen...however, if the _four_ of you combine payment for one wish, _then_ you can afford it" Four. She said for again.

"Then what would my payment be?" Kurogane asked, his temper slowly getting enough of this.

"Your sword"

"WHA-? I'd never sell away Ginryù!" he protectively held the sword away from the witch as if she would jump up and snatch it away from him. But she only looked at him with mild interest.

With a small grin she started to poke on his shoulder. "Fine! Instead you will wander this world, looking like a costume-contest loser, and get picked up by the police for carrying and unlawful sword, and get plastered all over the TV for being a freak! Is that what you want?"

"Huh? Polee? Tiivii?" Kurogane stuttered, overwhelmed by all the foreign words.

The Dimensional looked away with a dark grin, obviously amused. "You realize that you're trapped here and I am the only person in the world who can get you out?"

"That's _got_ to be a lie!"

"It's all true" Fai agreed with the witch, much to Kurgogane's shock and dismay.

"You're kidding" he said darkly, while Fai, the wizard, smiled happily.2

"What...will you do?" the witch asked with a smirk, stretching her hand out already. Kurogane gritted his teeth. "Dammit!" he swung the sword from his shoulder, tossing it towards the witch.

"When I'm free from this _curse_, I'm coming back for this" he vowed in a dangerously low voice.

The witch took it, letting it flow in the air. She turned to one of the weird-dressed girls and let the large sword fly towards her.

"Your price...is your marking" she looked down at the wizard.

Fai, the mage, looked lost for a moment, his eyebrows just crunched a tiny bit together, before he smiled again.

"I don't suppose this stuff would do?" he pointed at the elegant, silver staff he had dropped when he had lunged for the girl.

The witch stared at him solemnly. "It won't. I told you the price is the thing you value most" Fai looked down, unconsciously resting his eyes on the petite form of female in his arms.

He smiled, almost painfully. "I guess I have no choice" the mage decided. The witch took it as a 'yes'. A big tattoo, colored in dark blue, came out of his back and flew towards the other girl in a shimmer of light purple.

"No, it have to be a thing you most value."

"What about you?" she cocked her head at the young boy. "Now is the time to hand over your item of highest value. And you will be able to travel the worlds"

"Fine" Syaoran nodded in determination.

"You realize I haven't named the price yet" the woman looked down at him with worry, but also with a slight trail of a smile in her eyes.

"Yes!" he frowned in anticipation.

"The only thing I can do is send you to other worlds" the witch explained his wish. "Finding the child's memories is something _you_ will have to do"

"...Fine!"

"I like your attitude" the Dimensional Witch truly smiled for a moment.

"Eh? There are more of you?" a new voice came from behind her. They all looked up at the black-dressed teenage boy, who had a white and a black ball in his arms.

"Here they are" he announced, waving his other question away.

The witch took the white one gingerly. It turned out to be a ball, who actually had hands and feet with two wrinkles as eyes. It also had a tiny nose and large ears like rabbit ears. A mouth couldn't be seen.

"The name of this young one is Mokona Modoki" Yuuko introduced it to the new-called travelers. "Mokona will lead you through the worlds"

"Oi! You got an extra one" Kurogane exclaimed as he noticed the black ball, still detached in the boy's arms. "Give it to me. I'll go home with that" Obviously he wasn't too keen traveling with foreign people.

"No. That's how we keep in contact" the witch pointed stupidly between the three male and herself. "The only power this one has is to stay in communication with Mokona"

"Mokona will take you to different dimensions, but there is no way to control which dimension. For that reason only fate will decide when your wishes will be granted.

However, there is no coincidence in the world. What is there, is _Hitsuzen_. And what brought you together..." she glanced at each of them, even at the two unconscious ones. "...was also _Hitsuzen_"

"Syaoran, your price..." she got back to the previous topic. Syaoran tensed in anticipation, determination written across his whole face. "...is your relationship"

Startled, the young boy stared at her wide-eyed, not understanding quite.

"The thing you value most, is the relationship with her" she waved towards the auburn-haired girl in his arms. "So that is your price"

"My price-?" Syaoran echoed dumbfounded. "But how-?"

"Even if this child's memories are completely restored...your relationship with her will never be the same" The Dimensional Witch looked thoughtfully at the brown-haired boy. "So what...is she to you?"

Syaoran closed his eyes in pain, tightening his arms around his princess.

"A childhood friend..." he whispered, just loud enough to hear through the rain pattering around them. "...and the princess of a country..." his voice got stronger. "...and a girl, who is precious to me!"

The woman smiled quite pitifully. "...I see" the smile disappeared. "However...if you want to accept Mokona, that relationship will end"

Syaoran's head snapped up in shock as he gasped.

"Even if you retrieve all of her memories" she continued to explain. "the one memory you will never retrieve will be her memory of you"

"That is...my price" the young boy spoke out quietly.

"Will you still pay it?" the witch asked him, Mokona waiting patiently in her hands.

"Let's go..." his grip tightened around his princess so hard, his knuckles protrude out whitely. "I will not let Sakura die!"

"...Travel between worlds is more difficult than you imagine" Yuuko started. " There are wide variety of worlds. For example..." she pointed at the two other males of whom Syaoran was in between on his knees.

"...the worlds these two come from. You can tell just from their clothes, can't you?" Oddly enough, she was directly and seemingly only speaking to Syaoran.

"Both of them come from different dimensions than yours.

"People you know. People you've met on your world...they've developed under completely different conditions on other worlds. You may meet different versions of the same person. That said...are you still determined to see it through?" the witch asked again, smiling as if she knew already.

"...Yes!"

Sincerity and Determination. No matter what a person wants to attempt, those are needed. And it seems that you are well provided with both" The wind picked up around the five new-called travelers and only around them. "And so..."

Mokona, the white fluff ball, jumped from the Dimensional Witch's outstretched arm, up to the sky. "...you may go..."

"But what _is _her price?" Kurogane asked annoyed, pointing the reddish haired girl, who was still laying quite peacefully in the mage's arms. He itched to know why she was allowed to go without paying and not him.

A small smile appeared on Yuuko's face, through painted in sadness. Fai, the blond mage, looked down at the unconscious girl, his hood waving harshly around with his slightly long hair, blowing into his face some time.

As unconsciously as the girl was, he tightened his grip around her as he looked up to the witch in front of him, waiting for an answer.

They almost disappeared into the small mouth of Mokona. He guessed, her next words weren't meant for their ears, as quiet as she spoke.

"The memories of her mother"

* * *

**Alright, I'm hoping for some good reviews, if you don't mind. :D To the one, who did already.  
**

**MCRDamine; Thank you so much. But I had to rewrite it. It was needed. I've found the old one so disgustingly bad written, I just couldn't take it. Hope, this will be better though. :D  
**

* * *

**See you at the next chapter (hopefully...I'm using that word too freaking often)  
**


	3. Through The Dimensions

_Chapter 3 Through the dimensions_

I opened my eyes. Everything was black and dark. So black and dark I first thought I hadn't opened them at all.

I looked around, trying to see at least a tiniest bit. But there was nothing, wherever I turned my head to. _Am I blind now? What does 'Blinds' see? Stupid question though, Blinds can't 'see'_

Fear built up inside me, in my stomach, bubbling up, making my heart race, the only sound in my ears, as it was pounding there. _Where am I? What is this here?_

I felt no ground under me, yet I was still on my back. Was I _floating_? Since when had I been able to?

A small light appeared before me. It grew steadily, but never enough to disturb my eyes actually. _What is that?_ I didn't realize I had asked out loud.

The now radiative light changed its shape, forming into something. The something had four what you could call legs or arms. The built of its body seemed to me like what a cat would look like. Only larger and definitely bigger. I blinked, unable to back away or move at all. I was paralyzed.

It stopped changing its shape. The light wasn't there anymore, yet I could see somehow. As if the light was in the black form of this...this, whatever it was. It looked like a black puma to me as elegant as it looked, but I wasn't sure. Well, I never was. At least it seemed to me like one.

_Finally_ it spoke, without any movement near his mouth. _Someone worthy came. I've waited long for someone like you..._

_Someone like me?,_ I cocked my head, confused.

_Allow me to be your protector, _It bowed its head without answering my question. I wanted to look behind me to see who it _actually_ meant with this phrase, but that was unnecessary.

"Eh...thank you, but what are you?" I asked puzzled, bluntly away with the question, which whirled in my mind the most of all the other ones.

Now there was an actual move near his jaw. It opened it quite a bit, revealing knife-sharp teeth. It seemed to me almost like a smirk. _Could animals smirk anyway?_

_I'm the guardian of the wind...Your kudan,_ he vanished right before my eyes and I felt myself get sucked away. As if getting sucked away from a dream to wide-awakeness.

Again everything was dark and black as I opened my eyes. _Am I seriously blind now?_ But this time it was only because of a hood, which blocked me from the light. I silently tried to arrange my thoughts, since they kept circling uselessly around my mind.

Slowly I sat up, when I – finally – felt a hard ground under me. _So I'm not floating anymore. That's nice to know._

It didn't do good with my back though. Did I fell or why was I even laying there?

"Ah you're awake," a voice reached my ears. Automatically I looked up, shoving the hood of the cloak away, so I could see more than my legs from under it. There was a man, unknown to me, right kneeling in front of me. He had fair blonde hair, quite long, and blue eyes like the little speck of sky I could see behind him from a window. _A window?_ He had odd clothes on, I had never seen anywhere something like this. White and blue colors made my eyes blink in surprise. They were nothing like the clothes I was used to see.

He smiled as I squinted my eyes, rubbing them with my knuckles to get the heaviness away. "Yeah...," was all I was able to mumble out.

I noticed another man, further away, but as tall as the blonde one it seemed. He was sitting cross-legged with a grim look plastered on his face and red eyes. He was rather creepy than welcoming, the total opposite of the man in front of me. Actually they seemed to be the opposites of each other at all. The one with the blue eyes, blonde and cheerful-looking clothes and the other one black-haired and dark clothes. While he was muscular and definitely had more strength, the other was rather lanky and thin.

I thought that was all, but then I realized we had even more company. A boy was laying on the ground, just like me before, seemingly unconscious. The only difference seemed to be the girl in his arms. They, too, had weird clothes on, but that seemed to be normal by now. The young girl as well was unconscious, but...she had a quite pained expression upon her face. While the boy just looked like he was sleeping.

"Are they alright?" I asked in a soft tone, quite worried. It was not often for me to see people just laying on the ground around, even if I seemingly had done the same thing.

As the two male took their time to answer (maybe they just didn't know either) I scrambled towards the two quietly. _Maybe we should call an ambulance. They might be hurt_. _Though, who or what would hurt such innocent-looking children. Maybe they fell onto the hard ground like me. If I actually did that...  
_

"Huh? Oh yeah, they're just asleep," the blonde finally replied. I looked back towards him. Perhaps it was just because my consciousness was fully back, that I didn't notice before. Something emitted from him, a strong wave...a strong wave of...of what? Power? Magic? _How would I know this?_

I frowned. "Is that so...," I said absently.

"Mokona wants to be hugged, too," I flinched as a plumb flour bag fell onto my lap. _What on earth?_

Distracted I stared at the thing. It was obviously _not_ a flour bag. It was a rabbit-like thing with big ears, a jewel on his..uh...forehead. He had his eyes closed and a mouth or nose, quite cute actually.

"Hm? And what are you?" I asked with a small smile appearing on my lips by itself.

"Mokona is Mokona!"

"I see" _That wasn't helpful_.

"I think I should introduce myself," the blonde spoke up again, still a broad smile plastered on his face. "My name is Fai D. Flourite," he said professionally, before he added cheerful. "But you can just call me Fai" _Fai is his name...the one with the weird, strong wave._

"I'm Aya," I responded and bowed my head with a slight smile.

"Aya-chan, is it?" he grinned as I looked at him, uncomprehending. He turned to the other man. "And what about the man in black over there?"

"It's not man in black," the one grunted, annoyed. "The name is Kurogane!"

"Kurogane?" Fai repeated thoughtfully. "What about Kuro-rin or Kuro-chan?"

"WHAT THE HELL!" Kurogane yelled. Seemed like the black man didn't find it so funny. Though I could understand Fai, his name was quite mouthful.

Unfortunately, or not, the young boy woke up at the shout, stirring on the ground beside the girl. I watched him carefully. Maybe he did hurt himself? He opened his eyes, revealing two hazel orbs as they blinked.

Mokona approached him, of all people or...things, taking a place right in front of his sight.

"Puu," Mokona made, perhaps grinning, I couldn't be sure. "It looks like..."

"Sa...kura?" the boy mumbled, before his eyes widened.

Mokona looked like he/she/it was about to cry as he jumped off him, drying his face with a piece of cloth. "He doesn't hug Mokona" Now he actually did cry. I grabbed him out of simple comfort, seeing the bewildered expression of the brown-haired boy.

"It looks like he's up," Fai said cheerily, bending over slightly as the boy's head snapped up.

I flinched startled as he suddenly bolted up. "SAKURA!" _Ehm..does he mean the girl in his arms?_ He noticed, too, that something was wrapped and pressed against his chest. A sigh escaped his lips as he stared down at the girl, both relieved and worried at once.

"So, her name is Sakura?" Fai broke the sudden silent. "We tried to dry her off. Even while you slept, you wouldn't let her go"

"Mokona dried, too!" Mokona exclaimed, jumping onto my lap again as he held a small cloth in his hands. He started to dry my already drily hands. I just smiled at him, not entirely sure what to make of this. What to make of all this.

"So you...er...?" Fai trailed off.

"Call me Syaoran," the young boy replied uncertain but understanding.

Fai pointed at himself, introducing. "My name is pretty long. So you can just call me Fai. Mr. Black over there is Kuro-rin (IT'S KUROGANE) and the girl over here is Aya-chan!" Pointing at everybody with his gloved finger it rested lastly on me.

I still couldn't figure out, what _exactly _was going on. But who was it who said once a time? Make the best of your situation. And stay quiet.

So ignoring the constant yelling on behalf of Kurogane, I looked over to the only girl of this little group, besides me. "Is she alright?" I asked the boy, Syaoran, softly.

Syaoran, who had been staring worriedly down at the girl, Sakura, snapped his head up in startle. "Her body...is like ice," he touched her cheek lightly.

"What happened to her?"

"Her memories are lost and the Dimensional Witch said, the princess will die if I don't find them," _The princess, huh?_

_You have to go now..._Where am I going anyway..._To your destiny. I will send you to the Dimensional Witch..._ Pieces of words flashed through my mind, not making any sense at all.

I frowned.

_You have to go on a journey...a journey and help some people...during that...you will get your memories back...from your past life._

"Who said this to me?" I asked myself. _Does this person mean these people?_

I looked away from Sakura at Syaoran, who was staring at the girl with longing, letting my eyes wander. _If these are the ones I have to help,how...are they?  
_

Just now I consciously observed my surroundings. "Where are we anyway?" I asked, just as Syaoran suddenly yelped in startle.

Fai, the wizard, rummaged through the boys clothes with a thoughtful expression. "Waa! What do you think you're _doing_?" I could only stare at his odd behavior.

"Eh...," he held out his hand. My eyes widen. _What...is..._ Clamped between his fingers was a fragile feather. It was a pure white with a symbol on it in a rose color; a symbol, which was foreign for me. I had never seen something like this.

"Is _this _what a piece of memory looks like...," Fai asked with an already knowing smile. "...for this girl?" _Eh?_

"Eh?" Syaoran stared at it, astonished.

"It was stuck to you," Fai replied to his unvoiced question. "Only this one though...," He let it float towards the girls chest by itself. To _my_ astonishment it floated straight into her chest, disappearing from our sight. _As if the heart sucked it for living..._ Thinking of Syaoran's earlier words, it might made sense. Might.

"This...," the young boy said, understanding. "...is one piece of Sakura's memories!"

"The feather?" I mumbled to myself with doubt. _Is something like this possible? Well, I wouldn't know, would I..._

I watched Syaoran, smiling as he fondly touched the girls cheek again. "She is getting warmer"

"If you hadn't had that feather, it might have been a problem," Fai pointed out, quite bluntly.

My eyes trailed back to the brown-haired boy as if waiting for his answer. "By _coincidence,_" he obviously tried to reason. "one stuck to my clothes-"

"There is no coincidence in the worlds," In the _worlds_? Frowning I looked upon the blonde person in front of me. "That's...what the witch said, wasn't it?" he continued at all the gazes he received. "And so my guess is without thinking you grabbed it yourself.

In order to save the girl," Fai smiled gently at the young boy, before it spread out to a sudden and shining grin. "Of course I'm just guessing all this" he slumped down on his seat, Mokona in his laps. _...Sure_

I noticed Kurogane watching him silently.

"But my question is," Fai continued as Syaoran only helplessly looked down at his girl. His girl. "how can we find them now...new feathers," I frowned at him, not understanding at all. Not that I only didn't know where we were, now this...feather...and other...feathers. _What the hell is going on?_ "I doubt we'll find anymore in our clothes"

"_Mokona knows,_" the little flour bag jumped up and down, raising his arm for attention. Yes, I decided he was a _male_. "That feather gave out really big waves?" _Huh? Shouldn't I have felt them as well then...I can feel Fai's, can't I?_ Maybe I just hit my head. Hard.

"So when a feather is close, Mokona will feel the big waves," he explained, mostly to the young boy with the flabbergast expression.

"So...," I looked at the little thing thoughtfully. "You can just tell, where the feather is?" To be honest, I simply felt confused.

"Yes!" Mokona agreed, jumping. "And Mokona will be like...this," My jaw dropped as his closed eyes opened. And I mean opened. Big eyes, so...so _unsuitable_ to the rest of his...body; a blue color, surprisingly like mine.

Thankfully enough he closed them quickly again and I slumped down from my unconsciously tensed position. I stood up, suddenly more than aware of the stiffness in my...cough, muscles. Taking a closer look around the room, I noticed it wasn't such a big difference to my living room. _My living room...Dad...Jun_

Wide-eyed I stared out of the window, taking closer steps towards it.

..._Where are we?_

I could see many houses, buildings and cars. Oh yes, cars were a lot here. Nothing unusual. Problem, in which part of the town was I? I needed to look after Jun. And Dad.

What about Jun? And Dad?..._ And don't worry about Jun and your Dad. They will be fine...!_

_Only looking at them for a moment. Just to see if they were alright._ Who said, I wasn't allowed-

Something smacked me at the back of my head, causing me to stumble forward with a yelp. "Hey!" I laid my hand against the cool glass of the window, blinking back, disturbed.

"I asked you if you are going to help?" the black man, Kurogane, asked grumpily. I assumed he was the one who had hit me with a...a pillow.

"Help with what?" I asked back as I glanced down at the pillow in front of my feet. How could something soft like this hurt so much? Or did I just have a headache?

Kurogane glared openly, obviously angered about something I did. Whatever I did. "You weren't listening, were you?"

"Not really," I tipped my head to the side sheepishly. "I was wondering, _where we are actually?_"

"Yo!" Flinching I snapped my eyes up to the door, where a tall, lean man was standing, a big grin plastered on his cheerful face. His dark brown hair tipped slightly to the side as he winked at all of us with one hand, the other one occupied with a bowl of...something.

Behind him appeared a beautiful, young woman. She had straight, black hair, her bangs perfectly cut right above her eyes. She observed us quietly and with a calm face, actually the total opposite of the man. She, too, had something in her hands; a tablet with cups.

"So, you're all awake now!" the woman closed the door behind her. "Hey, no need to get all tense" Just now I realized how strained my body had gotten and quickly tried to relax, noticing the tightening of Syaoran's arms around the girl, Sakura.

"You came from Yuko-san, right?" _Who? Oh we will just leave it..._

"Yuko-san?" Syaoran asked, dumbfounded. At least one was as clueless as me.

"You know," the, to me still unknown man, continued with twinkling eyes. "The Girl Witch. The Far East Witch. The Dimensional Witch...," _The Dimensional Witch!_ "She has a lot of names"

The woman handed down some blankets for Syaoran, a gentle smile on her face. "Here. For the girl," Wide-eyed the young boy took them in his hands like he got something so valuable, he feared he would destroy it. "Oh! Thank you!" How cute.

"I'm Sorata Arisugawa," the man introduced himself, finally.

"I'm Arashi," the woman said, taking the tablet back from the man.

"Just to let you know," Sorata explained with beaming eyes. "She's my wife and the woman I love. Just make sure you've burned that into your hearts," he said it almost like a threat. I almost smiled.

Arashi, seemingly not listening, held the tablet full of cups of tea in front of me. "Take one. It will help," she told me with her soft tone. I blinked and mouthed a small 'o' as I cautiously one cup in my hands. The warmth filled my whole palms.

"Thank you," I said quietly, distracted from her husband.

"What bliss I feel, having a honey like this. Ahhh...," he romanticized. What a luck he has. I tried a small sip of the cup. "By which I mean if you lay a finger on her, you'll die...horribly," Choking, partly because of the startle (C'mon, he was grinning like a lovesick maniac as he talked), partly because of how hot it was.

"Why do you only say that to _me_?" Kurogane yelled, pointing at himself, but backed away as Sorata turned back to him, threatening.

"But I wasn't kidding!" he gave the black-colored ninja a thumbs-up.

"I WILL NOT TOUCH HER!"

_...And I still don't know where we are_

"Now," Thankfully enough Sorata seemed to get serious (at least a bit) as he gently cradled Mokona in his palm. "I figure you went to the _Dimensional Witch_ and got this from her to get here, right?" My head perked up, noticing his pointed finger on the little manju bun.

"Mokona Modoki," Mokona introduced...himself cheerfully.

"That's a long name," Figured. "Is it okay if I just say Mokona?" Sorata asked ridiculously polite, but who am I to say.

"Okay! Sure!"

"I heard the whole story from the man there," Sorata continued as his wife sat down neatly on the ground. "I mean the blond guy. Mr. Black over there is too mean to ask," I looked over to Fai. Right, he and Kurogane were already awake when I woke up.

"Anyway gentlemen...," he blinked over to me. "...and lady of course, this is your lucky day"

"Umm..." Fai raised his voice. "In what way?"

"Mokona has no idea which is the next world, right?" _Eh?_ "So, it's a happy chance that brought you to this world first of all" I frowned. _The next WORLD?_

"Because this...," he pulled the door open. "is the Hanshin Republic"

* * *

**Alright. First of all, sorry this took me so long. I could practically say this was on hiatus. But however, here is the rewritten third chapter. **

**I must say, I will write everything a bit different (not only from the writing style, but the story line itself as well). So for the ones, who actually read my first try of 'Sealed Tattoos', it might be better to read this as well.  
**

**However, I also noticed it would always do good to thank the reviewers, since in this world there are as much as none :D, anonymous or not.**

* * *

**elsie; Thanks for the review. It's nice to know this story is _already_ good to read. Though I only had two chapters XD. Yeah, the grammar and spelling is quite a problem and I had a beta reader. I'll try to implement your advice. And I'm sorry again for taking so long. Lack of motivation for a while, you know...:D Hope, you liked this.  
**

* * *

_**See you hopefully at the next chapter and please, please, please do leave me a small review. :)**_

_**I would still like to thank the ones for the story alerts and favoring. Tell me what you think?  
**_


	4. And Meet Different People

_Chapter 4 And meet different people...  
_

"...The shape of the island is thus" _When did we come from the Dimensional Witch? _"Because of the similarity to a tiger, people call us the Tiger Country" _How come I missed her?  
_"Of course, the Hanshin Republic uses the image of a tiger quite a bit" _Did only me miss her? I thought, we all just woke up! _"Our currency is the Koko, means Tiger. There are One-Koko Coins...," a small puppet declared us everything, even though I wasn't really listening. It did catch my attention at first because of the similarity of the puppets and the two adults, who were currently our hosts.

I sighed. _I will send you to the Dimensional Witch_...

Well, and where was I now? In another WORLD, it seemed. Another WORLD because I had no freaking knowledge of a town named Hanshin Republic. Alright, I wasn't really good with geographies either, but that had nothing to do with it!

Although the others seemed to know exactly about whatever was going on here.

"...this year, the team has some really great prospects. Some of the best players in the world!" There was the 'world' again.

"Sir," I noticed Fai had raised his voice and arm. "I have a question"

"Yes? Fai-kun?"

"Does everyone in this country have an accent like yours, Sorata-san?"

"Baseball?" Kurogane grumbled moodily, not far away from me. "What the hell is that?" I stared at him amazed.

"You don't know, what _Baseball_ is?" I asked him, stunned. I mean, even _I_ knew what it was...well partly.

Kurogane merrily glared sideways in my direction, before grumpily shaking his head. I shrugged. "It's alright, I don't know either," Now he was actually looking, an expression of doubt thoughtfulness across his face.

He frowned. "You do"

I blinked. "No, I don't"

"You're lying"

"Am I?" I cocked my head to the side. How could he have noticed?

"Argh, whatever!"

I opened my mouth, but he was consciously not looking at me anymore, his arms crossed in front of his chest. "Kurogane-san?" I poked my head into his view, but he didn't even give me a glance.

"Kuro-san?" I waved my hand in front of his face, trying to get his red eyes to pay attention. He immediately snapped his head to me, glaring. "IT'S KUROGANE!"

Flinching, I backed away a bit. _Okaaay, at least I have his attention_.

"Can I ask you something?" I spoke up, less noisy and even a bit nervous.

"What!"

"You...were talking about the Dimensional Witch as if you had been already there," The glare disappeared a bit, _just_ leaving the usual scowl upon his face. "But _when_ were you there?"

He grumbled something under his breathe, unable for me to understand, before he sighed, obviously annoyed with all of this. "You were unconscious when we were...,"

"So I _was_ really there?"

"Exactly what I said!" he glared again and I almost wished, I had asked someone else of this group. "And you didn't wake up either at all"

"Why?"

"Hell, how should I know!" his voice boomed again. I held my hands up in surrender. "Sorry, just a question"

"All I know is you falling from the sky at her shop in a world named Japan," he explained like a moody version of the puppets. "Doesn't make sense at all, my world was named Japan, too!"

"That really doesn't make sense" I mumbled absently. "And what else happened?"

"She took a price from each of us (my sword!) in order to get our wishes fulfilled"

"Wishes?" _Wishes? _

Suddenly I noticed the tall and scary ninja-type looking man staring oddly my way.

"The Witch didn't tell us your wish..." _That's nice, because I don't know what my wish actually is,_

"Why didn't she?" I frowned.

"She said, you'd know" _Oh really?_

"And what about my price?"

"She didn't tell us either," I blinked at Kurogane, astonished. How did he speak without moving his mouth an inch? I turned around, only to realize - a relief to my suddenly loud thumbing heart - it was Fai, who had spoken.

"Hm?"

"The Dimensional Witch wouldn't tell what your price was. The same with your wish," he spoke with his usual cheerful voice. "Sorry!" he still smiled, but I noticed the odd stares he received from the two males.

"Oh," I replied dumbly. "No need to be"

_My wish? My price?_

_...during that, you will get your memories back...from you past life_, it flashed through my mind like a brainwave. How odd...who - by the way - said that? _During the journey..._

I sighed, disappointed. This all just didn't make sense. _Why was I here?_

"Well...I have one more question," Fai spoke up again, breaking the - for me - heavy silence. "Now, where exactly are we? Who owns this room?"

"Good question, good question," Sorata replied, overzealous. "This is an empty room in an old, traditional apartment house that my honey and I manage," I actually listened to this, watching _almost_ amused at how he fussed over his wife again.

"Ain't it great?" now he started to rave... "A beautiful apartment manager, who is also a great cook!" ...of himself.

I leaned my back against the wall, a throbbing headache creeping my already lack of concentration away. _Alright alright, just to get at least something clear. I'm here, in Hanshin Republic, a town I've never heard of before, apparently in a totally other world with no idea how exactly I had gotten here...also, there are four other people with me...none of them I had seen ever before...obviously I had met the Dimensional Witch while being unconscious (oh my!) and she knew my wish without me knowing it and took a price from me...what kind of price?  
_

"YOU! WAKE UP!" Cringing I flattened against the wall with a yelp. I only caught a glimpse of Kurogane getting hit by something at the back of his head, so hard he jerked forward in surprise.

"_What was that_?" _How could someone hit him there__?_

Kurogane jumped up in alarm, furiously turning his head everywhere as if he wanted to see everything at once. "I didn't feel an enemy," _Oh and usually he can?_ "Who did that?"

He still glanced around, before he suddenly settled his dangerous red orbs at Sorata. I almost rolled my eyes. _Of all people...,_ "Bastard! _You_ threw that, didn't you?"

"You were in a corner," Fai solemnly explained, the first time I had actually_ not_ seen him smile. "If he threw anything, it wouldn't hit you there. It had to come from above"

"But what was that?" I asked, swiftly scanning the whole room. "What was thrown at him?"

"What?" Sorata stared at all of us, incredulously together with that puppet. "It was my _kudan_, what else?"

"Kudan?"

"You don't know?" now he actually looked like we just came from another world. "Sure you don't! You all come from different _worlds_, you _wouldn't_ know!" lol.

"Everyone in this world has a kudan attached," he wrote something illegible on the white board with his puppet. "Here it is written in Kanji"

"Ah, I see..."

"I don't see at all!"

"What kind of letters are those?"

"Mokona can read" Well then. I couldn't make one single letter out of the others. How could a word like 'kudan' be written like that? Language was funny.

"That's really great, Mokona" Fai smiled down at the flour bag on his shoulder, patting his head.

"Can you, Syaoran?" Mokona asked with his curious voice. Now mentioned I noticed, the young boy hadn't spoken at all.

"Yeah," he replied hesitantly. "More or less"

"Kurogane's and Syaoran's worlds use Kanji, but Fai's and Aya's probably don't. But you can understand me and I can understand you," Sorata pondered.

I frowned. "But how is that possible?" If you didn't even had the same writing, your language wouldn't be the same either, would it?

But for once Sorata didn't know the answer. But he was thinking at least about it, while Kurogane went on with conversation already.

"Now...what kind of technique is this 'kudan'? And you used the word...attached?"

"Even if you come from another world...," It was Arashi, who raised her calm voice this time, back straight and her hands neatly folded on her lap. "...once you entered this one, a kudan will be attached" She bent down beside the sleeping girl. I inwardly smiled a bit sheepish. Truth to be told I had totally forgotten her for a moment.

"Do you mind if I call her Sakura-san?"

"That is fine...," Syaoran replied hesitantly, as soon as he realized he was asked.

"I cannot tell where Sakura-san's memories went...," Arashi continued, her eyes glued thoughtfully on Sakura. "...however, if someone has picked it up, it will become the cause of a fight" _Why is that?_ I let my eyes wander. _It is only a feather with the memories of a girl. Who would want to fight for such a thing?_

"You've lost your method of battle," Arashi said without explaining. Well, I didn't ask out loud, did I? Surprisingly enough she looked directly to Fai and Kurogane, while one was smiling and the other scowling. Guess who is who?

"How did you know?" Fai asked with a grin.

"My honey," I smiled. Mentally. "used to be a Shinto religion Miko. She possesses spiritual powers. And well...," Sorata grinned to himself. "...she's retired since she married me"

"Actually," Fai started with his cheerfulness. "I did give my magic power to the Dimensional Witch"

"And I gave that Witch my sword!" Kurogane growled, darkness coming over his features. _I don't know what I gave her..._ I thought, troubled.

"It wasn't any sort of power that I gave her," Syaoran declared in his serious self. Now I was quite interested. I hadn't even thought till now about what the others had to give her. "I never had magic or weapons or anything like that from the start!"

Arashi smiled gently at the young boy. "That may have been your luck"

"Eh?"

"There are kudan in this world," I briefly wondered why she didn't ask me. "When it comes time to fight, that kudan should be able to help"

"Then this kudan was originally meant for battles?" Syaoran asked wide-eyed.

"What you use it for...or how you use it is up to you," Sorata smiled, almost smirked, which looked quite ridiculous with his hand still stuck in the puppet. "One look can answer hundred questions," _Eh? What?_

_"If you want to know what your kudan is...the only thing to do is see it with your own eyes," EHHH? What?_

"Now...I've pretty much explained everything to know about this country," Sorata grinned again.

"He did?" I vaguely heard Kurogane mutter. Looking out of the window, I sighed. _So that...thing earlier was actually a kudan? Someone/thing, who will help me in need?_ Well, that was nice to know.

"What do you think?" My eyes wandered back to the group in front of me. "Do you think Sakura-chan would have a feather in this world?" Sorata asked Mokona, who was currently perched on Syaoran's hands.

The little, white thing concentrated. "It is a long, _long_ way away, but...this country has one" _How he found that out with the long, long way away I will never know..._

"Shall we find this feather of yours?" Sorata asked the brown-haired boy. How old was he again? Fifteen? Sixteen?

"Yes!" Determination crossed his features nonetheless.

"And you three?" he suddenly included us as well. Mokona jumped up and down until I caught him, gently cradling his small body in my palms, thoughtfully. Although there wasn't much to think about.

"I might as well," Fai grinned, carefree.

I gave a tiny shrug. "It's alright with me," I replied softly.

"If...," now it was Kurogane. "I said I wanted to leave, would you do it...white thing?" he addressed the manju bun in my hands.

"No!" the simple answer came bluntly. "Mokona...will not leave this country until Mokona found the feather"

I looked up to the tall ninja. "That settles it then" I uselessly added, unable to overlook the big, plastered grin on Fai's face.

"Thank you...Mokona" Syaoran dipped his head to Mokona's level, sounding so sincerely grateful I inwardly smiled.

"Fine!" Sorata clapped his hands together. "While you are in this world, I'll vouch for you.

This is an apartment building. We have got room enough. You can use these rooms until you go to the next world"

"Thank you very much!" Syaoran said. Somehow I had the feeling he was the only one ever thanking somebody here.

"It's after midnight already," _Huh? _I looked back through the window. Stars were shining together with the full moon. I hadn't even noticed before. "It's time to sleep"

"Fai, Kurogane," Sorata addressed the two tallest of the whole 'group'. "You don't mind sharing a room, do you?"

"Not at all!" Fai cheerfully replied.

"WHAT WAS THAT?" Kurogane immediately yelled.

"Aya-san?"

"Hm?" I snapped my head to the kind woman, who gently smiled again.

"You can use this room with Sakura-san," she shortly explained, before turning to Syaoran, who had a worried look on his face again.

"...I want to stay by her side," he quietly said as if he would get punished for saying it out loud. Arashi glanced my way and I quickly nodded.

"It's okay if you sleep here," the young boy looked up startled, taking his eyes off his princess. For once. "There's enough space for three people," I proposed and stood up without waiting for any protests or are-you-sure questions, walking towards the window with Mokona still in my hands.

"Very well," Arashi's voice reached my ears. "But you must at least get some sleep for yourself. You have no idea what awaits you in this country. When you have the chance to sleep, you should do it"

"My honey and I will protect you," Sorata assured over his shoulder. "So there's nothing to worry about"

"Alright" Syaoran said, a small smile on his face I could see even at the window pane. I sat down on its ledge, feeling quite back at home at this usual position. _But it seems to be a long way till I get back home...how many of those feathers exist anyway? And why am I here?_

I doubted I could really help anybody here with their problems. _Maybe...just maybe the one, who said that, meant someone else..._

"Good night, Aya-chan" Mokona mumbled in my lap, already half-asleep. I looked down to him. Since he didn't look at all, I didn't bring myself up to smile. "Good night, Mokona" I quietly replied, wishing I could fall asleep as soon as him. Could I?

Doubt it.

* * *

Slowly I opened my eyes, feeling the light on my lids, disturbing. And the sun wasn't even up, yet.

Yawning I stretched out...only to fall down to the ground. Yelping in pain I shot up. _What on earth?_ Looking around the first thing I noticed was... _Where am I?_

The room was decorated like I was used to, but this was definitely not my home. Just then my eyes fell on the two people on the ground. _Oh right_ I remembered, almost depressed. _I'm not in my_ world_ anymore..._

So, everything that happened...yesterday wasn't only a flicker of my imagination. Though I already knew, that my imagination could never ever produce something so real like this at all. Especially if I saw people I had never met before.

"Oh well," I mumbled. Startled I snapped my head up. Good, Syaoran didn't wake up from my little stunt. Neither did the sleeping girl. I wondered if she would ever wake up. _Maybe if we get one of those weird feathers._

Standing up I decided to better get out, before waking the young boy up. Perhaps someone else was already awake. Sliding open the door quietly, I stepped out, taking in the foreign hallway. To my left were even more rooms while at the right a staircase led down to wherever.

I walked downstairs, trying to hear anything alive here. _What time is it anyway? _

Sounds further down reached my ears and I quickly followed it, landing in a room I would call kitchen. Arashi, the beautiful woman from yesterday, was working at the hearth, concentrated.

"Good morning, Arashi-san," I greeted her politely. Immediately she looked up, a small smile gracing her lips as she retorted. "Good morning, Aya-san. Did you sleep well?"

"Yes," I replied. Oh, manners forgotten. "Thank you very much. And...thanks for letting us living her for a while," It really kept nagging on me that a much younger boy than me had more manners than the two guys and me together. How the girl, Sakura, _the princess_, was I didn't know right now.

"It is alright, really," she simply waved off. "After all we owed Yuko-san a payment"

I frowned. "The Dimensional Witch?"

Arashi titled her head, resting her hand with a cloth on the table. "Yes. You did meet her along with the others, didn't you?"

I sighed. "I don't know" She frowned, obviously not satisfied from my answer, but thankfully realized to not press further. I didn't meet her, did I? I mean, _meet her_, as if _see_ her and _talk _to her.

"I've prepared some clothes for you all," Arashi spoke in the silence. I looked up to her eyes again, still brooding. "You won't stand up so much then when you walk around in town," she declared at my puzzled gaze.

"Ah, thank you very much," I said again, truthfully grateful.

"You're welcome," I could really see her smile now. "You can change over there. The clothes are inside," she pointed at a door I could see across the hallway.

Not knowing what else to say to hold up a conversation I walked inside the room, hesitantly slipping the door open. It was decorated like the room I had been sleeping for the night with the exception of several piles of clothes neatly placed on the window sill. I really felt like I was in a hotel.

Taking off my dirty clothes, which were clinging uncomfortably on my body by now, I slipped into some black pants and a long-sleeved shirt, which had a deep green colour. _Hmm, it fits me. I just hope these are really the clothes meant for me..._

I let my black boots and socks on, not having the need to change them as I took a hairbrush for the bird's nest on my head. I did like my reddish curls, but sometimes I just wished I had the heart to cut them off a bit shorter.

I looked at the mirror on the wall. There, looking back at me, was an eighteen-year-old girl with blue eyes, long hair, a pale face and not really tall. I only had a sigh left for my view.

* * *

The wind brushed over us all outside, warm yet not too hot. Even though the sun was beaming down by the time. I enjoyed the moment of peace ( if you could call it peace with Fai teasing Kurogane right next to you ), looking up at the sky, breathing deep the scent of leaves in.

The house we were living for now was quite in the central of the town it seemed. The sight was really overwhelming with many houses built up right next to each other, all the buzz and people, leaving as much place as nothing for trees or anything natural.

I looked over to the three persons beside me. While Kurogane was dressed in his usual black attire, Fai seemed to be the total opposite of the ninja-type looking guy with his lightly coloured clothes. I blinked. _Did I forget...?_

"Good morning," I quickly said out loud to them. After all, we seemed to be stuck together in this...whatever _this_ actually was, so formalities were a bit important. And communication.

The others glanced my way without a sound. I titled my head to the side._ Did I say something_ _wrong? _I always thought, if you didn't want to say something awkward or what would make your opponent moody, 'Good morning' would be the best way to prevent it.

"Good morning, Aya-chan/san," Fai and Syaoran got their mouths open finally, greeting back after a hesitant silence. I would have been satisfied with this, but what should tell me Kurogane's mere grunt?

I looked at him with a crunched eyebrows. "Has Kuro-san got out of the wrong side of the bed?" I asked, totally innocent.

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING KURO-SAN!" he yelled exactly in front of my face and I just barely, _just barely_, flinched away from him. What was wrong with the name Kuro-san? It was just a shortcut for his too long name.

To my surprise Fai really started to laugh. I mean, now wasn't really the best situation for. Communication problems. That's what we had. Even though we were talking apparently the same language.

"Well...," I stretched that word out, tentatively. "I'm sorry, but your name _is_ actually quite mouthful" I shrugged, still feeling I was in the right. And Kurogane didn't answer to that, only mumbled something unintelligible about 'weird names'. Or was it 'bunch of idiots'?

"You guys won't get anything done sitting in your rooms," Sorata explained as he came outside together with his wife. "You have to start your search for Sakura's feather on someplace. So get out here and see!"

"Okaay," Fai immediately agreed in his cheerfulness, letting look Kurogane grumpy and...well, not nice.

"Fine!"

"..."

...

"Oh no!" Sorata looked at his watch with wide eyes. "I'm gonna be late. It's about time for my lesson to start," He quickly scanned with his eyes everything. "If you walk around I think you will begin to figure out what a kudan really is"

"Alright," Syaoran nodded in understanding. Though, he was glancing worriedly over to the apartment.

"I'll stay by Sakura's side for you," Arashi offered with a gentle smile; she'd, too noticed.

"Thank you," Syaoran replied half-heartily. _He would rather like to stay by her side AND look around for feathers..._, I smiled slightly. He was easy to see through when it came to Sakura, I did realize that in the short amount of time. Even if you were blind, you would notice this.

"Is the white thing coming along, too?" Kurogane asked moody with his tall frame next to me, kind of letting me look way too small.

"Mokona isn't a white thing," Mokona jumped onto the ninja, causing him to back away in order to not touch the manju bun. "Mokona is Mokona!"

"STAY AWAY!"

"If Mokona is a white thing, then this guy over must be a black thing, right?" Fai asked the 'white thing' on Kurogane's shoulder, grinning widely.

"Right!" Mokona agreed as cheerful as him. The ninja was quite a pitiful sight, growling with an imaginary dark aura around him between all the 'whites'.

"Take this," my head perked up, away from the little scene as I watched Sorata giving the young boy something. A frosh? _A frosh?_

"There's enough money for lunch in there, so the four of you should take your time and make friends"

"Thank you," _he says it quite a lot...thank you...well, understandable, if you imagine how we might have to stay in this 'world' without those two..._

"Why is he giving it to the _kid_?" _Why doesn't he ask the person straight away?_

"Because he is the one who looks like the strongest of the bunch," Sorata gave him a tumb up, grinning alarmingly close to a maniac.

"WHAT IS THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN?" _Does he always have to yell? It hurts in my ears_

"That means exactly what it means, Kuro-san," I replied lightly for Sorata.

"STOP CALLING ME THAT!"

"Wow!" Fai exclaimed as I stared around with huge eyes. Sure, I was used to live in a town, but this... "It sure is a bustling place"

"People all over the place!" Syaoran almost whispered, astonished. Obviously he wasn't used to so many people as well.

"Everything is weird here," Moodily Kurogane growled like a watchdog.

"Have you ever seen something like this?" I asked softly, looking at those huge buildings, one after another. There was one big building in my previous town. And it was small in comparison to _those_.

"No. Never," Syaoran actually replied to my absent surprise as I further tried to watch everything and everyone. This all was strangely terrifying and fascinating at once. _Worlds are so different...but I should have expected it..._

"NEVER! AND WHY DO YOU HAVE TO CALL ME BY WEIRDER AND WEIRDER NAMES!" Startled I snapped my head over to Kurogane, who was glaring angrily at the mage.

Fai left this unanswered, though. Inwardly shrugging I continued looking around, partly in astonishment as people - mainly girls - started to either smile or giggle at Syaoran. Confused I looked over to him. Did I miss something? _Again?_

"It's so cute!"

"And pure white"

"_And round!_" Well, now I was sure they weren't talking about Syaoran, but Mokona on top of him.

"Do you see?" Kurogane spoke to the cute, pure white and round 'it', almost gleeful it seemed. "They are laughing at you!"

"Yes!" Mokona actually blushed, giggling now as well. "Mokona has many girlfriends"

"They are not your girlfriends!"

"_Come in! Come in!_" a foreign voice closely reached my ears, getting my attention. It was an elder man in an apron. He was the kind of man, who would look sympathetic at the first look with that cheerful smile and the buoyant spirit around him.

"Oh, come in!" he seemed to have noticed my thoughtful stare at him as he stepped forward, holding a beautiful formed and totally red apple. It was not natural in my...'world' to see something like this, not usually, but here it seemed to be common.

"You wanna buy an apple from me?" he asked, holding it out in front of me.

"Wow," I sighed almost blissfully. "It's so...beautiful"

"That's...an _apple_?" Syaoran exclaimed, incredulously.

"If it isn't I have no idea what it is!" I couldn't hold back the small chuckle.

"So, it didn't look like that in your world?" Fai asked the brown-haired boy in wonder.

"The shape is the same, but the colour in my world is a pale yellow?" _A pale yellow? What?_

"Isn't that called a pear?"

"I believe so..." I agreed, looking at the apple. "But then the shape would be different"

"No," Syaoran replied though. "A pear is redder and has leaves coming out of the top"

"No, that's a raki seed, isn't it?" Fai intervened.

"Eh?" I looked up to him. _What is he talking?_

"A raki seed!" Fai exclaimed. "Don't you know? If it as red as your hair, it is a raki seed" _As red as my- ?_

"And...DO YOU WANT IT OR NOT?" the salesman exclaimed, still standing beside us all I noticed now.

"Want it!" Mokona jumped up.

"Nice doing business with you," the man calmed down. To my surprise he handed us one more 'apple', giving it to Syaoran. I looked down at my own one in my hands. _Now...as long as I don't know what it tastes like, I will not call it an apple..._

"These apples are pretty good, huh?" Fai commented, just as I took a bite from it. We stood at a bridge, leaning against the railing. I stared down at the water. _What kind of taste is that?_ It was definitely not an apple. But it was tasty, indeed.

"Yes," Syaoran agreed unconsciously with me. "What is this taste?" he wondered out loud.

"If I knew...," I sighed, glancing at the tiny bite of the pure red apple. I was kinda swamped by all those new things, which were only vaguely familiar to the ones in my 'world'.

"...the four of us come from completely different cultures," Fai's voice reached my ears. I gazed over to him. "Come to think of it," he suddenly grinned widely again as he looked over to Syaoran. "I never asked...how did you get to the shop of the Dimension Witch?" _Why should he ask that?_ I thought, almost angry. _It's none of his business._

"There's a High Priest in my land. He sent me," Syaoran replied without hesitance. _Admit it, you're just angry, because you don't know..._ I absently looked down at the water. It was all in front and under us. At a normal situation I would panic to be only meters over litres of water, but in this circumstances I should panic all the time.

"The princess of my country sent me away by force," Kurogane said, mumbling. As I glanced over to him I noticed he had gritted his teeth, his face in a furious grimace. All in all, he looked quite scary.

"So, you did something bad and she did scold you!" Fai seemed to ignore the furious look upon Kurogane, as he pointed at him with his finger, grinning broadly.

"She did scold you!" Mokona agreed on Syaoran's head, laughing together with the mage. Not exactly knowing how to react to this, I simply kept quiet. _That's something I am good in..._

"What about you?" Kurogane asked him, though his face was still contorted in anger. "Who sent you?"

"Me?" Fai pointed at himself, cheerfully. "No one. I sent myself there" _Eh?_

"Eh? Then you didn't have to ask the woman for anything!" Kurogane accused him. For what, I didn't understand. It was not his business, was it? "You could have done this yourself! Where do you think _you're_ sitting on?" he glared at Mokona, who had jumped on his shoulder, dangerously low speaking.

"Not even close!" Fai answered as he rested his elbows on the railing, his apple loosely cradled in his one hand. How he was able to hold that big apple in only one hand, I didn't know.

"Were I to muster all my magical abilities, just getting myself from one dimension to the next would take everything I can do," Fai explained, still smiling at least slightly.

"Eh?" I didn't understand this. "Does this mean, you've lost all your magic, because you moved yourself from your world? Why would you that?" Surprise flickered through his eyes I could see that, before he smiled again beside me.

"Aya-chan didn't even tell us how she came to the shop?" _That's because I don't know by myself,_ My shoulder slumped down an inch as I looked away from Fai, from them all.

"...But to answer your question I did loose my magic. But it was my price," he spoke behind me after a while. I could almost feel his eyes. "The people who sent Syaoran-kun and Kuro-chin...," "I TOLD TO STOP THAT!" "...are people with a lot of magic power"

I noticed him from the corner of my eyes, leaning against the railing again, more than sure I didn't only feel his eyes. "But I'll bet it took all they had," _Did they loose their magic as well now?_ "I imagine, anyone has the power to send someone to another world only _once,_"

Startled I napped my eyes over to him, but he was looking down on his half-eaten apple. So he didn't look at all. "That must be the reason your High Priest sent you to the Witch's place," he addressed Syaoran now. "It would take going to a lot of worlds to find all of Sakura's feathers. And I think the only one who can send you to many worlds is the Dimensional Witch," _So she has a lot of power. More than Syaoran's High Priest, and Kurogane's Princess...and you..._

"And the one, who sent me here I believe" I softly muttered, only for my ears to hear.

"...Sakura," I glanced sideways to the young boy. He had so much pain upon his face it was unbearable to even look at him. _For such a young boy...he has seen so much more than any normal adult would_

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" a sudden cry got my attention. I swiftly looked over my shoulder, trying to find out where it came from. People, certainly more people than before, gathered around, all staring up a building.

Following their suits I looked up.

There - up on a building - were several men. A bunch of similar clothes people. _A gang?_ They all had goggles shielding their eyes. _It is something I'm quite used to...what a relief_ And scarfs wrapped around their necks. _Definitely a gang. Every gang has a mark or sign or whatever to show themselves off as a gang_, I would know that.

"This time we're going to kick your butts and take over this neighbourhood!" another voice further down spoke. _Another gang? _Several people down there all had hats on with one uniform resembling the other one. _Certainly_

The leader - I believed him to be - gave a thumbs down, a smirk I could see even from the distance gracing his lips. He had long, odd grey hair, tied in ponytail and surely had the aura of an authority.

"Whooo! They're cool," Fai exclaimed beside me and I almost didn't hear the "Another roped-off battle!" from a man not far away from us.

"So this is normal here?" I mused, glancing back up to the gang on the building. _I wonder who will win. And how they will fight..._

"That bastard has a special kudan...," _Huh?_ "But don't let that go to your head!" _A...special kudan?_

People started to back away as if on commando and a sort of battle field was created. I looked around and over to the unprotected buildings. _Don't they somehow protect the houses?_

He only raised his arm and all the people with the goggles jumped down the house, leaving him up there alone. Weird animals appeared everywhere beside the fighters and I squinted my eyes to see what they actually were.

"Kudans!" Syaoran exclaimed, wide-eyed.

Those people, who had backed away before, started to cheer for...well, for one of those. "It's those guys again!" "You JD brats!"

"So, _that's _a kudan," I said in realization, as all those 'animals' opened their mouth and shot light balls at each other. I frowned, thoughtfully.

"What's wrong with kids these days?" Kurogane almost looked desperate as he stood still like a stone beside all those cheering people. In general the foursome of us seemed to stand as we were not for any of those for us unknown gangs.

"I think I've figured out why no one was surprised at Mokona!" Fai announced, grinning.

"Really? I didn't," I replied, grimacing as those light balls hit each other with a loud 'bang'. "They don't seem to have their kudans out for no reason"

* * *

**I'll just stop right here for no reason as well. XD**

**Please tell me what you think and if you have any questions, just ask me. I will PM you, if you have an account or give you the answer in the next chapter.  
**

**Also I would thank some reviewers.**

* * *

_**An0nymOus:**_** Thank you for your advice. But I believe I will have to make this go on slow, so everybody can understand the development of the relationships between the four and Sakura. I might end this 'world' in the next chapter, but don't count on it. Still, thank you for your review.  
**

**_Ginga no Yousei: _I think so, too. XD, but that's is how I want her character to be. Absent, not always listening, because she is so full of thoughts. Just, so the point of view will be more reasonable. And we will see how far she will get. :DD Thanks for your review!  
**

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**I hope there will be more some time. And thanks for all those favouring and alerts. I love you!  
**


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